Currently an annular combustion chamber of a gas turbine engine has a number of fuel injectors arranged to supply fuel into the annular combustion chamber. Each fuel injector includes a fuel feed arm which extends generally radially from the annular combustion chamber and through a corresponding aperture in a combustion chamber casing surrounding the annular combustion chamber. An annular fuel manifold extends circumferentially around the combustion chamber casing and is arranged to supply fuel to each of the fuel injectors. The annular fuel manifold is supported from the combustion chamber casing at a number of circumferentially spaced locations by brackets arranged to prevent vibration of the manifold during operation of the gas turbine engine. Each fuel injector is connected to the annular fuel manifold by an associated fuel supply pipe. Each fuel supply pipe is connected at a first end to a T-connector on the annular fuel manifold and is connected at a second end to a radially outer end of the feed arm of the fuel injector. The fuel supply pipes are rigid and are arranged in a generally S-shaped path from the annular fuel manifold to the fuel injector.
In this arrangement the fuel supply pipes are rigid and delicate and occasionally suffer from denting of the fuel pipes, cracking of welds and consequential leakage of fuel. The rigid fuel supply pipes also suffer from vibrations. In addition the assembling of the manifold, fuel pipes and fuel injectors into a fully interlocking and sealing alignment is time consuming and costly and similarly the repairing or replacing of a fuel injector and/or fuel pipe is costly and time consuming. This arrangement requires many components e.g. fuel pipes, connectors, brackets, fasteners, seals etc.
Therefore the present invention seeks to provide a novel fuel manifold and fuel injector arrangement for a combustion chamber which reduces or overcomes the above mentioned problem.